Month: January 2010

MCI brings out new code, docs can’t endorse drugs

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New Delhi, January 01: Endorsing or participating in private studies on efficacy of drugs and accepting any kind of hospitality from pharma companies might be a thing of the past for doctors with the Medical Council of India coming out with a fresh code of conduct for medical practitioners.

The MCI via amendment to the “Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulation 2002”, has brought out the code of conduct which includes not accepting any gifts or travel facility from any pharmaceutical company or the health care industry.

‘Miracle’: Mum, baby back from the dead

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London, January 01: A Father is claiming a Christmas miracle after his wife and newborn baby apparently came back from the dead.

Mike Hermanstorfer told how his wife Tracy went into cardiac arrest and stopped breathing in a US hospital delivery room on Christmas Eve.

Doctors performed an emergency caesarean section to try to save the baby’s life but then had to give Mr Hermanstorfer the heartbreaking news that his son had not survived either.

As the father held his son in his hands, he felt the boy begin to move.

And at the same time Mrs Hermanstorfer, 33, began to breathe again.

Andhra IT Minister issued showcause notice

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New Delhi, January 01: Cracking the whip, Congress High Command today issued a show-cause notice to rebel Andhra Pradesh Minister from Telangana K Venkata Reddy, who raised a storm by attacking Chief Minister K Rosaiah, for “deliberately lowering party’s prestige”.

The notice was issued by AICC General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi, who is in-charge of organisational affairs, after he received a report from Veerappa Moily, Congress in-charge of Andhra Pradesh.

Shoppers, partner killed in massacre in Espoo, Finland

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Finland, January 01: Six people are confirmed dead after a chilling New Year’s Eve shooting in Finland

The gunman, 43-year-old Ibrahim Shkupolli, rampaged through a suburban shopping mall in Finland, and later shot himself according to Finnish police.

Denmark’s TV2 reported Shkupolli had killed his ex-wife in a nearby apartment before then opening fire with a 9mm handgun in the Sello shopping centre in Espoo, west of the capital Helsinki.

Police confirmed five people were dead, four of them at the shopping centre.

Scores of cars burned, hundreds arrested over French New Year

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France, January 01: Scores of cars were burned in France on New Year’s Eve and hundreds of people arrested, authorities said today.

Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said in a statement that 405 arrests were made across the country and 11 police officers injured but “no major incidents” were reported.

The official toll of burned cars was due later, he said.

The interior ministry had mobilised 8,000 police in the capital and 45,000 nationally for the night, after authorities counted 1,147 cars set on fire a year ago – a toll that appeared to have fallen this time round.

All set for the 97th Indian Science Congress in Kerala

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Thiruvananthapuram, January 01: Organisers of the 97th edition of the Indian Science Congress (ISC) are all ready for the event, which will see more than 4,000 delegates and 3,500 student delegates participating.

“Everything is ready and the inaugural ceremony is being held in a newly built hall at the Kerala University campus which can accommodate more than 6,000 people. 50 delegates from abroad have also registered,” former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair, who is the general president of the 97th ISC, told reporters here Friday.

‘Issue of placing ISI under civilian control shelved’

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Islamabad, January 01: Political forces in Pakistan want the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency to be placed under civilian control but the matter has been put on the backburner for the time being, President Asif Ali Zardari has said.

“The political forces want the ISI should be brought under civilian control but for the time being, this matter has been shelved,” Zardari said in an interview with a TV news channel.

He did not give the reasons for the issue being shelved.

Suicide blast kills three at Pakistan volleyball match

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Taliban, January 01: A Suspected suicide blast today killed three people and injured 11 others at a volleyball match in a small northwestern Pakistani town, police said.

The blast struck in Banu district in the North West Frontier Province, which is plagued by attacks and bombings by Taliban rebels.

“The blast took place during a volleyball match and according to initial reports it appears to be a suicide attack,” district police chief Mohammad Ayub Khan told AFP.

“Three people were killed and 11 others were injured.”

French night watchman arrested over stolen painting

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New York, January 01: Police have arrested a night watchman at a museum from where a valuable painting by 19th century artist Edgar Degas was stolen, a judicial official said.

Police in the southern port city of Marseille arrested the man on Thursday, the official said, adding: “It is an employee of the museum, a night watchman.”

The colourful image of singers performing on a theatre stage was missing when staff opened up the Cantini Museum in Marseille on Thursday.

The national museums service said the picture was a pastel work titled “The Chorus”, worth $1.14m.

India’s swine flu toll reaches 967, over 26,000 infected

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New Delhi, January 01: At least 13 more people have died due to swine flu in India taking the toll due to the pandemic virus to 967, health authorities said Friday.

Of the 13 deaths, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand reported three deaths each, and Delhi and Karnataka reported two deaths each. Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab reported one death each.

With these deaths, the casualty figure has reached 268 in Maharashtra and 133 in Karnataka. While 13 people have so far lost their lives in Uttarakhand, the number of deaths in Madhya Pradesh and Punjab are nine and 33, respectively.

Ford India posts 3 per cent sales growth in 2009

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Mumbai, January 01: Leading car-maker, Ford India today said it sold 29,499 vehicles in 2009, clocking a 3 per cent year-on-year jump in its annual sales as compared to previous year.

Ford had sold a total of 28,563 units in 2008, it said in a press release.

Sales growth, on a year-on-year basis in the third and fourth quarters stood up by 23 and 22 per cent respectively.

The company sold 8,025 units in Q3 and 7,065 units in Q4 of last year.

Bhutto probe: Pak denies access to military brass

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Islamabad, January 01: Pakistan government has denied a UN panel probing the killing of former Premier Benazir Bhutto access to top military officials, including powerful army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

The UN inquiry commission had submitted a written request some time ago for access to senior military officials, including Kayani, former ISI chief Lt Gen Nadeem Taj and ex-Military Intelligence head Lt Gen Nadeem Ejaz Mian.

Fatah vows to step up struggle against occupation

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Ramallah, January 01: The secular Fatah movement led by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Thursday vowed to step up its struggle against the Israeli occupation with demonstrations and diplomacy.

“Our programme emphasises the importance of a two-track approach, with the first being the escalation of the popular struggle to resist occupation,” the movement said in a statement.

‘Statehood needed for speedy administrative decisions’

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Puducherry, Januaru 01: Union Minister V Narayanasamy today said statehood for Puducherry was necessary to enable speedy administrative decisions for faster progress.

The UT government at present was not able to compete with full-fledged states like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka in expeditiously implementing developmental works and had to approach the Centre each time to finalise plans, including setting up of Special Economic Zone or ports, the Minister of State for Planning, Parliamentary Affairs and Culture said here.

Six more swine flu deaths in Gujarat, toll rises to 123

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Ahmedabad, January 01: Six more swine flu deaths, including that of a two-year-old boy, were reported in Gujarat today taking the toll to 123, while 24 more people tested positive for H1N1 virus, state health officials said.

While one Tahira Sirajbhai (21) died at the Rajkot civil hospital today, four persons succumbed yesterday and one had died on December 25.

New report warns of HIV epidemic in Egypt

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Cairo, January 01: A new report says Egypt is moving towards a “concentrated HIV epidemic”, as an increasing number of HIV patients are being recorded.

The report by the Information and Decision Support Centre, the research arm of the Egyptian Cabinet, was published on 29 December, but is not yet available online.

It states that at the end of 2008 the number of people living with HIV in Egypt was 3,735, including 963 (25.8 percent) who had developed AIDS.

Local NGOs dealing with HIV/AIDS and the UN Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) say this figure could be far higher.

Steel output to touch 124mt by 2012: Ministry

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New Delhi, January 01: The Steel Ministry has said the country is poised to become the second largest crude steel producer in the world by 2015 with major investment plans in the sector.

“With a production of 46.77 million tonne crude steel during the January-October 2009 period, the country has emerged as the fourth largest steel producer in the world and is expected to become the second largest producer in the world by 2015,” Steel Ministry said in a statement today.

The country is likely to achieve a crude steel production capacity of 124 mt by 2012, it said.

Five inmates escape from Madhya Pradesh jail

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Bhopal, January 01: An intensive search has been launched to trace five prisoners who escaped from Neemuch sub-jail, about 450 km from here, Friday morning, police said.

Five prisoners arrested on the charge of smuggling narcotics had escaped from Neemuch sub-jail some time after midnight. The policemen on duty came to know of it in the morning only.

Police suspect that the escapees climbed the wall of the jail with the help of a rope and slipped out of the jail premises.

Those who have escaped from the jail have been identified as Shambhulal, Manghilal, Sohanlal, Raju and Prakash.

India starts visa-on-arrival for 5 countries

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New Delhi, January 01: India on Friday started tourist visa-on-arrival facility for five countries on an “experimental basis” for a period of one year, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

“The said ‘tourist visa-on-arrival’ with a maximum validity of 30 days with single entry facility shall be granted by the immigration officers at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata airports to start with,” said a press statement issued by the ministry.

CBI may take over suicide case, Rathore gets interim bail

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Panchkula/New Delhi, January 01: Disgraced former Haryana top cop SPS Rathore today got a week’s interim bail against arrest in two cases as the Central government indicated that the CBI may take over the case of abetment to suicide of teenager Ruchika Girhotra.

The 67-year-old former DGP got the bail from Sessions Court in Panchkula which posted the hearing in two cases of harassment of Ruchika’s brother Ashu which includes a charge of attempt to murder and the doctoring of report of her postmortem.

All set for the 97th Indian Science Congress in Kerala

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Thiruvananthapuram, January 01: Organisers of the 97th edition of the Indian Science Congress (ISC) are all ready for the event, which will see more than 4,000 delegates and 3,500 student delegates participating.

“Everything is ready and the inaugural ceremony is being held in a newly built hall at the Kerala University campus which can accommodate more than 6,000 people. 50 delegates from abroad have also registered,” former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair, who is the general president of the 97th ISC, told reporters here on Friday.

Rangarajan expects economy to grow 8 pc in 2010-11

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New Delhi, January 01: Indian economy would expand by 8 per cent during fiscal 2010-11 and return to the high growth trajectory of nine per cent a year later, Prime Minister’s economic adviser C Rangarajan said today.

“The economy would grow between 7 and 7.5 per cent in the current fiscal, it would grow by eight per cent in 2010-11 and in the year after that growth would be nine per cent,” he told PTI.

Youths clash with police in J&K

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Srinagar, January 01: Over a dozen people, including policemen, were injured in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla on Friday afternoon as groups of youth pelted stones and clashed with police, an official said.

Groups of youth indulged in unprovoked violence in north Kashmir’s Baramulla town after Friday prayers, police said.

A senior police officer told: “Some youth indulged in violence engaging police in heavy stone pelting after the Friday prayers in Baramulla town.

Iran in serious crisis: Mousavi

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Tehran, January 01: Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi said on Friday he was ready to die for his reformist campaign after a disputed election in June, defying hardline calls for his execution.

“I’m not afraid of being one of the martyrs who lost their lives in their fight for their rightful demands since the vote,” Mousavi said on his website, five days after his nephew and seven other pro-reform protesters were killed during a rally.

Malaysians move to reduce sugar content in beverages

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Kuala Lumpur, January 01: Famous for their sweet tooth and reeling under sugar shortage, Malaysians are embarking on a campaign to reduce sugar content in food and beverages.

The health ministry is to meet with 60 representatives of the food and beverage industry to coax them to reduce the sugar content in their products, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin said Friday.

She would chair the meeting Jan 12 that would be attended also by representatives from the domestic trade, cooperatives and consumerism ministry.